Rockware Glass said 8 Dec/06 that it would close one of the furnaces at its Monk Bretton site in Feb/07 with the loss of 200 jobs. The cuts come just months after the firm announced 120 lay-offs due to the closure of another furnace at the plant. In 2006, 130 workers were left without jobs after Beatson Clark closed its factory at Stairfoot, Barnsley. Simon Morgan, from Rockware, blamed the job losses on high energy costs & stronger competition following the opening of the giant Quinn Glass factory in Cheshire, & said it was a decision "That has not been taken lightly. We tried to recover in part the continued & sustained cost base increases in all areas, but in particular energy. In an environment where a new entrant has caused overcapacity in the industry, Rockware is forced into announcing the closure of an additional furnace at its Barnsley factory.
